shortcake ; namjin

day 13

day 13
16:24

"you know," jin said quietly, "i take an art class with jimin sometimes. we had a ceramics project, and i was uninspired at the time on what to create."

jin was sitting on namjoon's couch in his muted color, modern living room. they didn't sit shoulder to shoulder. they weren't able to feel each other's warmth with such minuscule contact. today was different in a way that made them just a bit closer.

they were finally able to see one another within the entirety of their vision with sitting across from the other.

it wasn't a surprise that they both felt vulnerable in this position—like being seen from anything but a peripheral view made them an easy target to ridicule and judgement from the other.

and what a funny thing that is. to feel awkward in your own skin and bones because of the intense feelings you have for another person; wanting them to like you as much as you like them.

but namjoon tried to regain his comfort on the loveseat, looking at jin instead of the movie playing.

the older continued his story, finding more interest in the hem of his light sweatshirt. "but then you walked into the shop, with your intimidating aura wrapped in purple hair and dimples." jin chuckled softly at the initial meeting of the two.

"and when i returned to art class later that day, i was still uninspired. but you kept coming back to the shop, ordering a slice of strawberry shortcake. after a week of that i finally found my idea."

jin stood. he walked over to the doorway which stood the coat rack, and on one of the extending appendages hung a satchel he brought along.

namjoon watched as jin dipped his hand into the bag. crumpling sounded from within it and he could see peeks of texturizing plastic; bubble wrap.

jin carefully pulled out an object, but hid it from the younger's view. a tentative but hopeful smile was plastered on his face and he made a short journey back to his seat.

"jinnie—"

but namjoon was cut off by the object being placed on the coffee table between them.

a three tiered cake of art brought silence between them.

in awe, namjoon inched the artwork closer towards him with much needed delicacy. the last thing he wanted to do what break something so beautiful.

he took in the fluffy, illusion of the cake. the pads of his fingers ran over the false thick, white icing placed between each tier. he leveled his eyes at the cute assortment of strawberries he could tell were mixed with honeysuckle and deep red.

namjoon spun it around on the glass stand it sat on so he could view the entire piece.

seokjin was the first person to ever make art for him. "i'm at a loss of words." he admitted with an unbelievable laugh.

when he looked back up at him, jin was a mess of blush and sheepish giggles that gave an odd, but cute sound.

"believe it or not, i'm a terrible artist. this was a rare piece that turned out good, so i thought i'd share it with you."

but namjoon couldn't fathom this.

the flattery was immense at this point, and the longing pain in his chest to lurch at jin and tackle him in a hug came over him.

"maybe it turned out this way because i was actually excited to make it. because—" jin halted with hesitation, "because you excite me."

"so full of contradictions," he continued now. he couldn't stop.

"with your deep voice and dark clothes. your future in rapping and producing. all of that bubbling down to a boy who is actually as soft as the sunlight with a strong affinity for strawberry shortcake."

when namjoon remained silent, jin kept talking for the need of there to be noise.

he couldn't stand the boy just staring at him as if he spewed the most philosophical theory in the world.

as if he mustered up a conclusion far greater than aristotle or socrates of ever could.

"what i'm saying is that your love for strawberry shortcake contradicts your looks and i think that's really cute."

***

i wrote this @ 7am in the middle of an episode of stress™, so i'm sorry if it's poo